Kenji no Monogatari
by Otter and Tapir Writing Corp
Summary: SCRAPES AND GRAZES: Kenji falls down after a walk one day. Seeing his son's condition brings back memories for Kenshin. There won't be an update this week, but next week 11 August , there will be!
1. Apologize

**Apologize**

Half-crying, a little boy toddled into the house as he slid open the door. Flopping down sadly on a cushion, the redhead frowned up, as if the world had made him very, very angry.

"I hate you – I hate you – I hate you!"

Kenji Himura, an active boy (generally), was pounding his fist on the floor in a rage. Somehow or other, he was rather angry at … something. His eyes, much like his mother's, were filled with anger as he suddenly sat upright, a pout on his face. His hair was cut neatly, and he'd be a mighty cute kid – if only he'd take off that currently raging part of him.

Shaking her head, Kaoru slowly shuffled past the extension of the house, carrying with her a basket of groceries. When her kid was having a tantrum, she knew; all that was needed right now was for it to fizzle out naturally, all by itself. She slowly continued on her path, entering the kitchen at the end of her route.

Kenji watched his mother walk past him, a smile on her face. The kid felt really horrible right now. Was he really that bad, like his classmate had told him he was? Would his mother abandon him for that? He knew, somehow, that somewhere – something had gone wrong. He was going to fix it, definitely.

Getting up from his current posture (that is, lying down), the child made his way out to the corridor that his father had cleaned not too long ago. His father … Kenji briefly wondered how his father managed to cope with his bright-red hair. The little boy took after his father in that respect, that alone was plain to his eyes.

Kenji's pout creased further into a frown when his father came into view, rolling up his sleeves. Kenshin's clothing was wet in some areas, no doubt from doing the laundry. Being a child still, Kenji didn't need to do any of those yet – but he needed to when he was older. However, he enjoyed it, but only when he was doing it with either his mother or his father.

"To-san!" he cried out, waving a hand to try and grab his father's attention.

Smiling, the purple-eyed man made his way over to his young son. "Yes, Kenji-kun?" said Kenshin rather playfully, placing his hand on his son's head. "Your temperature feels alright … you don't have a fever, do you?" teased the father, looking lovingly at his son.

Kenji grinned at his father. Even though his father's jokes were rather weak at times, he appreciated the attempt at cheering him up. "I don't have a fever, to-san," he clarified, blinking, "But I think Matsu has one."

The pout returned to his face.

"Matsu-kun, your classmate?"

"Yeah, him!" said Kenji, looking rather indignant after saying that. Clearly, this Matsu was the source of the kid's troubles. "He tugged at my hair and said it was red because I yelled at both to-san and ka-san and Kami-sama decided to punish me," mumbled the boy, glancing down at his legs that were dangling from the corridor.

Kenshin smiled.

"And what did you do next?"

"I yelled at him, to-san. Then Matsu said my hair was getting redder," he said, frowning. His eyebrows were almost looking like they were glued together – Kenji was narrowing them with ferocious intensity. "I yelled at him louder then."

"That wasn't nice, Kenji."

"I _know_!"

Kenshin smiled at his young son. Kenji stared back at his father, giving out a little cry as he scrambled into his father's lap. This wasn't going like he expected … but still, having his father listen to him about this was better than his mother listening to this matter. Kenji didn't want to have yet another fateful meeting with Moku-san, or the wooden rod.

"Perhaps, you should apologize?" suggested Kenshin with an air of uncertainty. If this was Kaoru, she'd be insisting that her son apologize at once, but Kenshin decided to take it slowly. He wanted his son to come to the realization that what he did wasn't good, and come to a good conclusion with the matter – in other words, teaching Kenji how to think.

Kenji shook his head. "I don't know. To-san, could you tell me what to do?"

"Hmm … well …" Kenshin appeared deep in thought, before gently placing his son beside him and got up. Dusting himself, he seemed like he was going to step towards the kitchen to give his wife a hand at cooking.

"I know! I'll make Matsu some food and apologize, and I'll make him apologize to me too. Then we can share our food …" yelled Kenji, eyeing his father hopefully. If his father would help him with making a delicious bento –

"Good idea, Kenji."

Grinning from ear to ear, little Kenji Himura brightened up again. One matter resolved, and school was just a little bit better for him; tomorrow was just a little bit brighter as well.

---

Tapir: Well, here it is! The first chapter in Kenji no Monogatari. It'll be mostly Kenji-centric, and where he loves and adores his dad. ^^ Either way, I really enjoyed writing this chapter; having Kenji actually think about how to solve a problem (with some hints from his to-san, of course) was an idea I liked. R&R, everyone!


	2. Potpourri Part One

**Potpourri: Part One**

Kenji smiled, admiring the little object he held within his hands.

"She's going to be so happy!" he gushed, his smile not even fading as he gently held the potpourri within his hands.

---

_Three days ago …_

A little redhead walked into the small room, sitting down at the table. Kenji was at school now, and seated beside him was his classmate, Matsu. The duo had some sort of a rivalry between them; most arguments usually ended up in a scuffle or two between them. As much as Kenji hated to admit it, most of the girls detested them both for disturbing the teaching process. Even the teacher, Mokukii (Moku-san for short), got a little exasperated by them, but such occasions were rare.

Today, they were working on making little sweet-smelling bags, also known as potpourri.

Kenji was (grudgingly) working with Mishuu, a girl classmate. Mishuu hated Kenji for teasing her over the food she brought to school every day. Kenji hated her for bringing up the somewhat sensitive topic of his hair, which led to Matsu teasing him … and to tell a long story short, everything ended up in a fight.

"Mishuu, I need some scented leaves," grunted Kenji. Without waiting for a response from the girl, he roughly pushed her aside in order to get some leaves from the basket.

"Hey, that wasn't nice!" yelled Mishuu in return, a frown slowly forming on her face. However, she was smart enough not to argue with Kenji – the boy was definitely a demon when it came to getting his own way. It was no wonder that he was the tyrant of the class.

"Fine, I'm sorry then," retorted Kenji, his blue eyes blazing beneath their cool exterior. His hand was already balled into a fist, nearly crushing the leaves within. He never did understand girls; why did they always get into his way? Oh yeah, and the fact that his mother's mood changed as amazingly as the weather didn't really help.

Angrily, he stuffed the leaves into the small bag his teacher had provided.

"Kenji-kun, that isn't going to turn out nice," Mishuu pointed out, gently placing her leaves and dried flowers into her bag. "Would you like some dried flowers?"

Kenji's sole reply was a glare towards his classmate.

"Well, I'm giving you some anyway –"

"I don't need them. I'm going home."

Angrily, Kenji brushed past Mishuu again as Moku-san told all the students to complete their little project at home. He didn't notice that the small bag on Mishuu's side of the table had fell off. In a burst of anger, he huffed before heading out of the door, crushing the bag in the process.

"Kenji … you …"

Kenji turned around. "What?"

"… my potpourri …" Mishuu mumbled, close to tears as she tried to salvage what was left of it.

The red-haired child was silent. What had he done?

---

Tapir: Well … this is part one of Potpourri. It's a two-part story (I'm hoping), and planned because I wanted to get a few more characters introduced. Don't worry – we'll be seeing Kenji's family (hopefully) next chapter, eh? R&R!


	3. Potpourri Part Two

**Potpourri: Part Two**

_Three days ago – night_

Kenji pouted as he flopped down on his mattress, his hands holding a small clutch of leaves. He'd originally brought it back to show his mother, but he ended up having to do another project with these little things …

---

_Two days ago – morning_

The redhead sat before the square table in his room, a frown on his face. He couldn't remember the procedures properly, so naturally, he was a little frustrated at the fact. Scratching his head and giving a yell of irritation, he flung the dainty bag on the table, swept up the dried leaves into a small pile, before running out in search of his dad.

"To-san …" grunted the child as he approached his father, who was doing the laundry. Even though he didn't want his father to know what he'd done in school, this time, what he had done was completely irreversible with his own hands alone.

Kenshin's violet eyes watched his son's blue ones.

"I messed up Mishuu's potpourri …" said Kenji, his eyes cast down on the ground. He wasn't sure why he was acting this way – after all, the whole stepping incident was a complete accident, as compared to where he roughly shoved the girl aside. He felt like he wasn't wrong, yet, his instincts were telling him that it was indeed, indirectly his fault.

The father of one looked up from the laundry, before resuming his scrubbing. It was unnatural for Kenshin to be silent when his child was facing a problem, but it seemed that he knew what he was doing. Despite having aged a few years, he noticed a few stray leaves clinging to his son's clothing – hence, coming to the conclusion that Kenji was already doing something to rectify the predicament.

"Did anything interesting happen in school yesterday?" asked Kenshin, a smile on his face, his expression of interest in his son's school life genuine. He somehow sensed that the whole potpourri matter was a sensitive subject, and so, didn't press further.

Kenji was taken aback by his father's statement. He hadn't expected that response, truth be told. It was almost like his father didn't even hear what he had done to Mishuu! He blinked his blue eyes, a smile on his face (identical to Kenshin's) as he smiled at him.

"We made potpourri."

With that, the child was off and running.

---

_One day ago – night_

Little Himura Kenji was getting a little antsy.

He was supposed to be going back to school the very next day, but he hadn't done what he was supposed to do. Clutching the bag within his hands, he tried his best to not crush the leaves as he inserted them into the orange-colored pouch. Well, he didn't succeed – but his father's face, his father's smile continued to linger within his mind. Automatically assuming that Kenshin didn't even suspect anything, the child continued his effort to remedy the matter before his father caught his 'fox tail'.

Kenji stifled a yawn. This was taking an awfully long time … why weren't boys gifted with good hands, like girls were? His hands were either sweaty, or held the leaves too strongly!

His mouth creased into a frown. _How did Mishuu make them?_

_How did she?_

A thousand and one thoughts, all along a similar line, ran through the child's mind. As soon as his thoughts flooded in – so did inspiration. If his hands weren't going to do the job for him, he'd find another way.

Biting his tongue, Kenji slowly swept the leaves into the bag – and it worked! A grin formed on his face. If only he'd realized that his fist didn't really fit into the pouch … however, since he found out how to do it without getting the mass of the leaves crushed, it was just a matter of time before he completed the task.

And complete it he did.

---

_Present day_

"Mishuu … here. I'm sorry."

Mishuu eyed Kenji warily. Was he kidding, or was he serious? It was hard to tell, seeing as Kenji tended to be a little playful and joker-like. Yet, seeing his earnest face, as well as the sweet-smelling potpourri within his outstretched palms, the girl couldn't help but feel a little happier at her classmate's actions.

"It smells nice," she said.

Then, Kenji smiled.

---

Tapir: Okay, this is it – the second part of Potpourri! All in all, I enjoyed writing the ending the best :D Whatever ideas I had for the process was already gone, thanks to my inability to jot down ideas before I cram in some literature. Still: R&R, guys and girls!


	4. Scrapes and Grazes

**Scrapes and Grazes**

"Ka-san, do I really have to?"

"Yes, you do, young man! Now, come right now, or you'll be sorry."

With a sigh, Kaoru trudged off to the kitchen to pound some herbs. She was going to make some ointment for Kenji's scrape – the child had fallen down and grazed his knee. Even though it pained her to see her own son in pain, a little voice told her that kids somehow needed pain to grow properly, or something along those lines. Sometimes, those old sayings really rang true.

Kenji frowned, his eyes watering. The boy was on a verge of a tantrum, but was careful enough not to 'explode' in front of his mother. Sulking in a corner, however, was perfectly okay – his mother wouldn't notice him, or at least, he hoped. And besides, when his dad, Kenshin, came along, he'd have some way of cheering him up. Thinking that thought within his mind, the redhead toddled off into the corridor behind the dojo, sitting there with his trousers pulled up to above his knees (since he'd scraped both his knees and hands).

---

"Have you taken your bath?"

Voice that of concern, Kenshin sat down next to his son and watched him. His violet eyes glimpsed the cuts on Kenji's limbs, and he smiled. They looked so familiar to him … it was just like seeing himself all over again. Perhaps he did not have that pout on his face, or those blue eyes, but it was still like a mirror image of him.

"Does it still hurt?" he prompted his son, watching him.

Kenji nodded. "To-san, it still does. I was so careless …" mumbled Kenji, his head low as he thought about how he fell.

It was rather embarrassing to speak of, actually. Kenji was just walking home from around the corner (he'd gone to get some air) when he was startled by two fighting cats. The yowling and hissing on their part gave Kenji a fright, and the child tumbled down and ended up with some grazes on his body. Trembling from the scare and pain, he slowly made his way home where he met with Kaoru, who didn't look too pleased.

"_This will sting, but ..."_

The words still rang within Kenshin's mind.

He merely smiled.

---

_Thirty-something years ago …_

"Baka deshi! You're supposed to stand, not fall over!" barked Hiko, striding in a circle around his student.

The then pint-sized Kenshin was trembling under the combined weight of the two buckets on his back. They were filled with water, and he wasn't allowed to let a single drop spill out of them. To make things worse, he had to refill the buckets every time he spilled them. Needless to say, Kenshin was feeling a little resentful and frustrated because he couldn't get it right, no matter how many times he tried.

Without a warning or something along those lines, Hiko slapped Kenshin's hand lightly, which had the effect of Kenshin falling over and groaning in pain. It seemed that the littlest thing would upset Kenshin's gentle balance.

"Ah … it's bleeding, de gozaru," said Kenshin, watching his palms in amazement as he slowly trudged down to the river.

"There's another bucket still, baka deshi," drawled the master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, taking a swig from his ever-present sake bottle.

Half an hour later, Kenshin still couldn't balance himself properly with the added weights. On the other hand, the number of scratches and grazes were increasing in number.

"Shishou, I'm bleeding, de gozaru yo," the boy said, his eyes gazing at the muscled man.

Hiko sighed. When was his student ever going to learn? _If only he was bleeding sake,_ mused Hiko, _then I'd save a lot._ He crossed his arms and shook his head.

"I'm not the one bleeding, so carry on!" roared Hiko, but a satisfied smirk was on his face. Whether the training was really needed or not was actually a question – he was actually drawing _pleasure_ from it rather than training the small Kenshin properly.

Kenshin looked close to tears. Hiko groaned; he hated that face – it made him go all soft inside, just like some of his vases when cooled.

"Fine, come here," he growled, lifting the sake bottle from the rope around his waist.

Kenshin trotted up to him obediently.

"This will sting, but …" said Hiko, taking care not to pour more alcohol unto the wounds than needed – he needed to drink at one point, no, every point.

"AAAARRRRRGGHHH (de gozaru)! … gomen, shishou, de goza –"

"Don't you 'de gozaru' me!"

---

Still smiling at his son, Kenshin lifted up the young boy into his lap. "It doesn't look too bad," said Kenji's father, gently taking his son's hand in his. Quietly, he lifted the child unto his shoulder and stood up. "I'll take you to Kaoru, and I'll make sure it doesn't hurt too much," he said.

Through his tears, Kenji nodded. Somewhere along the line, he'd been crying unconsciously – he didn't want to, but somehow … they just _came_. "Yes, to-san," whispered the child, resting his head on his father's one.

Kaoru smiled as she watched the father and son.

_He could only give him what he did not have._

---

Tapir: Waha, here we go, another chapter! This is mostly a Kenshin-centric chapter, rather than Kenji … so, this probably means we need a Kaoru one, right? Maybe this is a divine hint, or I'm over-thinking things. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Review after reading, okay?


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